Three Signs of Potentially Fraudulent Ecommerce Transactions

Fraud has always existed, but the advent of online shopping has allowed it to take on a new form, known as ecommerce fraud. When your customers make a purchase using stolen or fake credit card data, or when they request a chargeback despite the fact that the goods or services that they paid for were delivered, it can be extremely harmful to your business. Read on for some of the telltale signs of a fraudulent online transaction, and consider using a chargeback protection service, such as Ethoca chargeback protection, to stop fraudsters in their tracks.

Strange Location

If the vast majority of your customers are based in one country, such as the United States, and you see an order come in from South America or Asia, it could mean that your business is gaining popularity and expanding. Unfortunately, it could also mean that the order is fraudulent. If you see an order come in from a new country for the first time, it is worth your time to double-check the order details, since it has a higher than average risk of being an attempt to commit ecommerce fraud.

Large or Unusually Expensive Orders

Whether a person committing ecommerce fraud has obtained stolen credit card details or he or she is planning to request a chargeback, his or her first step will to be to spend as much as possible in one transaction. The more that a particular order deviates from the average, the more likely it is that the person placing it is committing fraud. In particular, you should look out for customers who order multiples of the same product. How likely is it that someone ordering ten of the same product is planning to legitimately pay for and use all of them? While it is difficult to know for certain, taking steps to investigate is an important way to protect yourself.

Grammar, Spelling or Capitalization Errors

Everyone makes mistakes, but when a name, shipping address or list of special instructions contains multiple glaring errors, it is worth taking a second look. The culprit could be a criminal completing a large number of online orders in a short amount of time.

Unfortunately, online fraud is a fact of life. As you fulfill and ship orders, it is worth your time to keep an eye out for these red flags. In addition, you can make your website more secure by making sure all of your checkout pages use an “https” web address.